My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Spring Training: Phils hang on to defeat the Braves, 6-4.

The Phils hang on to a late lead to defeat the Braves, 6-4.

The Phils took a 1-0 lead in the first as, with two men on, and with one man out, Jim Thome hits an RBI single, knocking in Placido Polanco, who had earlier singled, then moved to second base on Shane Victorino’s walk, while sending Victorino, who had just walked, on to third base. The Braves tied the game up at one-all in the second as, with two men out, Matt Diaz hits a solo home run, his first home run of the spring. The Phils retook the lead in their half of the second as, with runners on second and third, and with one man out, Jimmy Rollins hits an RBI single, knocking in Freddy Galvis, who had earlier singled, than stopped at second base on a fielder’s choice out, 4-2-5, as Scott Podsednik, who had started the inning off with a double, then moved to third on Carlos Ruiz’s ground out, 3-1, was tagged out at home, giving the Phils a 2-1 lead. The Braves retied the game up at two-all in the third as, with runners on the corners, and with nobody out, Michael Bourn hits an RBI single, knocking in Tyler Pastornicky, who had earlier singled, then stopped at third on J.C. Boscan’s single, while Boscan, who had just singled, would stop at second base. Two batters latter, after Martin Prado had sacrifice bunted both runners up a base, 3-4, the Braves took the lead as Chipper Jones hits an RBI ground out, 5-3, scoring Boscan, giving the Braves a 3-2 lead. The Phils then tied the game up at three-all in their half of the third as, with two men out, John Mayberry, Jr. hits an RBI single, scoring Victorino, who had earlier doubled. The Phils retook the lead in the fourth as, with a runner on third, and with two men out, Polanco hits an RBI single, knocking in Rollins, who had earlier singled, then went up to second base as Ruiz, who had earlier doubled, then went to third on Galvis’s ground out, 4-3, was thrown out at home, 7-2, then stole third base, giving the Phils a 4-3 lead. The Braves then retied the game up at 4-4 in the sixth as, with two men out, Dan Uggla hits a solo home run, his first home run of the spring. The Phils then retook the lead in the seventh as, with two men on, and with one man out, Podsednik hits an RBI single, scoring Hunter Pence, who had earlier singled, then moved up to second base on Mayberry’s walk, giving the Phils a 5-4 lead, while sending Mayberry, who had just walked, up to second base. The Phils then made it a 6-4 lead as Brian Schneider hits an RBI single, scoring Mayberry, while sending Podsednik up to second base. That would be the final score as Diaz lined out to second base for the final out, giving Chad Qualls his first save of the spring.

Joe Blanton received a no-decision as he went five innings, giving up three runs on four hits, while striking out four. David Herndon blew his first save opportunity of the spring as he pitched an inning, giving up a run on a hit. Dontrelle Willis (1-1, 16.88) got the win as he threw a scoreless inning, giving up a walk. Antonio Bastardo received his third hold of the season as he pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter. Chad Qualls collected his first spring save as he threw a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, while striking out two. Jair Jurrjens also received a no-decision as he pitched four innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and a walk, while striking out three. Jairo Asencio and Craig Kimbrel combined for two scoreless innings, giving up two hits (Asencio), while striking out one (Kimbrel) between them. Adam Russell (0-1, 5.40) took the lost as he gave up two runs on three hits and a walk, while striking out a batter. Anthony Varvaro threw a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, while striking out three.

The Phils had fifteen hits in the ballgame, with Jimmy Rollins (Singles, RBI), Placido Polanco (Singles, RBI), Jim Thome (Singles, RBI), Hunter Pence (Single) and Scott Podsednik (Single, Double, RBI) all leading the club with two hits apiece. Tim Kennelly (Single), Shane Victorino (Double), John Mayberry, Jr. (Single, RBI), Carlos Ruiz (Double) and Brian Schneider (Single, RBI) had the other five Phils’ hits. The Phils also had two walks, as well as two steals (Polanco, Rollins) in the game.

The Phils (6-7) will continue their spring training schedule with an afternoon game tomorrow afternoon with the Pirates (5-7) at Bradenton. The game will start at 1:05 pm EDT.

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